The Hopkins men’s lacrosse team won a thriller in Piscataway, N.J. against the 10th-ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Easter Sunday night in front of a crowd of over 3,000 fans.
With just 14 seconds remaining in the game, junior attacker Kyle Marr scored his only goal of the game to lift the Blue Jays to a 13-12 win.
The victory comes after another thriller down in Charlottesville, Va. last week, where the Blue Jays edged out the University of Virginia Cavaliers by only two goals.
To create this game-winning opportunity, senior goalie Brock Turnbaugh made a low save on the doorstep with 1:06 remaining to keep the game tied at 12.
From the beginning of the game, the Blue Jays battled back and forth with the Scarlet Knights. Junior long stick midfielder Robert Kuhn opened up scoring for Hopkins following the second face-off of the game.
However, after back-and-forth action, Rutgers led 4-3 at the end of the first quarter. Hopkins added a goal from sophomore attacker Cole Williams, who showed his offensive prowess with two goals and four assists in the Blue Jay win.
Freshman attacker Jack Keogh scored his first career goal, and fellow freshman midfielder Connor DeSimone, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, continued to show he can compete at the Division-I level by adding a pair of goals and showing impressive field sense.
Senior midfielder Brinton Valis scored off of a feed from senior attacker Shack Stanwick with less than two minutes remaining in the half. After that, it was all Rutgers for the remainder of the half. They led the Blue Jays 6-4 going into halftime.
The Scarlet Knights led 9-6 with under five minutes to play in the third quarter. The Blue Jays used a 4-0 run that was sparked by a goal by senior midfielder Patrick Fraser with 4:13 remaining in the third. Not only did Fraser start a much needed Blue Jay run, but he led all scorers with three goals on Sunday night.
The second straight comeback win for the Jays showed their resilience and their fight even when facing large deficits.
“It was a real character win for us,” Marr said.
Coach Pietramala commented on the win at a press conference following the game.
“It’s Big Ten Lacrosse, there are no easy games,” Pietramala said. “But we didn’t play our best game of lacrosse, far from it.”
Despite some offensive troubles, the Blue Jays finished the game having only committed four turnovers.
Rutgers goalie Max Edelmann was a reason why the Blue Jay offense struggled early and never pulled away. He finished the game with 10 saves, as Hopkins outshot the Scarlet Knights 42-29.
In goal for the Blue Jays, Turnbaugh finished the game with nine saves to help Hopkins secure their win against No. 10 Rutgers. He also finished the game with four ground balls.
The Blue Jays’ season has been characterized by many slow starts, despite winning their last six games.
“We can’t keep staring slow like that, but it’s good to know we can come back,” Marr said.
With a goal in Sunday’s game, Stanwick kept his point streak alive. He has now scored at least one point in 57 consecutive games, a Hopkins record. Stanwick also added four assists to his point tally on Sunday night.
Hopkins is now 1-0 in Big Ten play and 7-2 overall. Their next four games are all within the Big Ten: Ohio State University, Penn State University, University of Michigan and University of Maryland. Three of these four teams are ranked in the top 20 in the Inside Lacrosse Poll. Per the most recent Inside Lacrosse National Poll (the week of April 2), the Blue Jays rank No. 5 in the nation.
The Blue Jays will play again on Saturday when the Ohio State Buckeyes come to town at noon. Hopkins is 4-1 at historic Homewood field this year.
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